I’m not trying to get too much into the cultural details here—certainly cultures vary in the setting. Some of them do treat cohabiting like it’s on par with marriage, and even arrange it through families (which makes sense: if we want to share grandchildren, we arrange for our kids to get married if they’re the opposite sex, but if they’re the same sex nonfantasy humans are out of grandchildren-sharing luck. In comes cohabitation!) But importantly, cohabitors cannot talk to each other. There is no way for them to socially pressure each other outside of self-destructive attacks or sternly written letters. You could hold someone responsible for what their cohabitor did, but this would only deter people who were compassionate enough to care about the fate of someone they cannot ever interact with—and, if they picked each other instead of being arranged, chose on the basis of not particularly desiring to ever interact with them again. (You don’t pick your friends as cohabitors: you pick people whose company you don’t care for with comparable danger tolerances and cosmetic features you want to include when you have your bodies conglomerated.)
Also, they don’t sleep, so “place of residence” dissolves for most people. They have typical hangouts, storage lockers, clubhouses and favorite restaurants and rental kitchens—but why bother maintaining an entire house? You don’t need a secure place in which to sleep; your cohabitor will look after your body while you’re unconscious. Medical decisions are also made a lot simpler by the magic system, although they don’t completely go away and there’s probably some plot to be had there.
Most people would probably adopt cosmetic markers, but how required these would be would certainly vary; I think your expectation here would be a reasonable way for one society to operate but too sweeping for all. This isn’t how we treat identical twins, who, while uncommon, are still a known feature of the real world. I look a lot like my sister to the point where one time I walked into her school and six of her friends mistook me for her; we were not then obliged to choose distinct ritual scarves and wear them at all times.
How much of a status symbol would a home be? Only the poorest don’t have a home? A home is a middle-class sort of thing? Only the rich? Only the very rich?
I’m not trying to get too much into the cultural details here—certainly cultures vary in the setting. Some of them do treat cohabiting like it’s on par with marriage, and even arrange it through families (which makes sense: if we want to share grandchildren, we arrange for our kids to get married if they’re the opposite sex, but if they’re the same sex nonfantasy humans are out of grandchildren-sharing luck. In comes cohabitation!) But importantly, cohabitors cannot talk to each other. There is no way for them to socially pressure each other outside of self-destructive attacks or sternly written letters. You could hold someone responsible for what their cohabitor did, but this would only deter people who were compassionate enough to care about the fate of someone they cannot ever interact with—and, if they picked each other instead of being arranged, chose on the basis of not particularly desiring to ever interact with them again. (You don’t pick your friends as cohabitors: you pick people whose company you don’t care for with comparable danger tolerances and cosmetic features you want to include when you have your bodies conglomerated.)
Also, they don’t sleep, so “place of residence” dissolves for most people. They have typical hangouts, storage lockers, clubhouses and favorite restaurants and rental kitchens—but why bother maintaining an entire house? You don’t need a secure place in which to sleep; your cohabitor will look after your body while you’re unconscious. Medical decisions are also made a lot simpler by the magic system, although they don’t completely go away and there’s probably some plot to be had there.
Most people would probably adopt cosmetic markers, but how required these would be would certainly vary; I think your expectation here would be a reasonable way for one society to operate but too sweeping for all. This isn’t how we treat identical twins, who, while uncommon, are still a known feature of the real world. I look a lot like my sister to the point where one time I walked into her school and six of her friends mistook me for her; we were not then obliged to choose distinct ritual scarves and wear them at all times.
Cohabitors could also pressure each other with rewards, and with threatening to withhold rewards.
I’m not sure about the lack of residences. A storage locker isn’t the same thing as having your stuff conveniently arranged for use.
Well, houses are at least a great deal more optional. I’m imagining them as something of a status symbol.
How much of a status symbol would a home be? Only the poorest don’t have a home? A home is a middle-class sort of thing? Only the rich? Only the very rich?
Again, would vary from culture to culture within the setting.
IIRC, in some cultures (e.g. mid-20th-century Italy) they did the opposite, i.e. they dressed their twin children identically.